


the flower of your house

by melodies_from_beyond



Category: The Locked Tomb Trilogy | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, First Time, Forehead Kisses, Gentle Kissing, Gideon is best girl, Harrow the Ninth Spoilers (Locked Tomb Trilogy), Heartbreaking, Vaginal Fingering, after the pool scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:53:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28114935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodies_from_beyond/pseuds/melodies_from_beyond
Summary: Harrowhark Nonagesimus and Gideon Nav, the Reverend Daughter and her unlikely cavalier, are in love. In the dim abandoned hallways of Canaan House, kisses are given and Harrow recognizes that she, too, is deserving of love.Takes place after the pool scene.(Contains spoilers for Harrow the Ninth.)
Relationships: Gideon Nav & Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Gideon Nav/Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Comments: 17
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

It was the morning after you and Gideon Nav kissed in the pool, the Body watching as your bone barracks kept most of the unwanted eyes away.

Most.

The Body watched as Gideon hesitantly cupped your breasts in her large cavalier’s hands under your salt-stiffened tunic. The Body watched, her mouth downturned, as Gideon kissed you, on the spot where your neck met the soft skin on the underside of your jaw. The Body watched, as tiny gasps escaped from your lips while Gideon suckled in between your legs, and you let her.

You wanted Gideon Nav.

You’d never known that anything could make you feel these sensations. It was all new to you, these feelings, this tenderness in your heart, stirred by your cavalier. You put your complete trust in her, not knowing why, but it felt _right_ , so you did.

You recalled an ancient phrase from before the Emperor Undying was borne into power. _The eyes are the window to the soul_. You gazed deep into Gideon Nav’s rich gold eyes, and she gazed back up at you from where she kneeled before you, her eyes filled with adoration.

Gold eyes, golden soul.

_Heart of gold._

You hated yourself more and more as you came to the realization that if you’d only opened your eyes sooner, stopped hating her, saw her for who she was, you’d see that she loved you dearly, even if she didn’t yet know it herself. You hated yourself because you thought you were so undeserving of affection that you repeatedly pushed away the only one who really loved you, despite the alien pain wrenching in your heart as you did so all those times in the past. You hated yourself as Gideon kissed in between your folds because you had shut her out for this long, only now letting yourself feel … _loved_.

You did not deserve her. You, a war crime, a product of a mass genocide, a near entire generation of Ninth children, did not consider yourself human. You did not need useless things like _warmth_ , _tenderness_ , and _love_. But here you were, with the flower of your house, and you loved her and she loved you, and you wanted to rip your beating heart from your rib cage and destroy it down to the cellular level. You deserved _that_ , the only thing fit for a monstrosity like you who let herself be loved by another.

A voice whispered to you, _it’s okay, it’s okay, she won’t hurt you_ , and you were unsure of the origin, but you closed your eyes regardless, shutting out the world.

Hesitantly, Gideon pushed her gentle fingers up inside of you, exploring a place that you’d previously never dared to go. She was so slow, so patient, so careful with you, that you nearly wished she strapped on her knuckleknives and buried the blades in your kidneys instead.

In the abandoned back hallways of Canaan House, you shed your bone armour, corset and jewelry and cobwebby robe, willfully baring your entire self to your cavalier. One flesh, one end, the sacred vows declared, and you intended to follow them exactly.

Back in your suite, the Body had seemingly disappeared, so you let your tunic fall from your hands and stood completely naked in front of your cavalier. She was afraid. Her eyes fell to your pale breasts and lingered, her face reddening, and you fought the urge to cover yourself. But you didn’t need to, as Nav turned around, her hands shielding her face.

‘This is wrong,’ your cavalier softly cried, still refusing to look at you. You were mad. After she’d done so much in the dim hallways, it was now she grew ashamed, with your body completely illuminated by candlelight. You knew your flesh prison was the reason.

‘And yet you’re barely more than a child…’ It was then that Nav looked at you again, and you knew what she saw; your body more bone than flesh, your hips sunken in, your thighs so small you could completely wrap your hands around them, your breasts resting on a rib cage that was displayed prominently by a lack of adipose tissue. You looked sickly, frail, worn too thin from a life that should never have been.

You knew.

Gideon gathered you in her arms and held you. You didn’t fight her, or try and hurt her, because you knew it would be useless. And she’d forgive you even if you did hurt her, which would hurt even more.

You were a worthless piece of shit, and yet your cavalier found in you a girl worthy of her undying love.

The next morning, you woke, still naked, your limbs tangled in your cavalier’s. Startled, you searched for anything familiar; even the Body, but she was still gone.

Gideon stirred at your waking, sitting up, unbothered as the blankets fell from her full breasts.

‘Nav?’ You said, barely more than a reedy gasp, and you hated how pitiful it was. You sounded like a little lost child.

Perhaps you were.

‘I’m not going anywhere, my sweet,’ she said, reaching for your hands.

As she kissed your forehead, holding you close, you let go of years of bitterness. A weight lifted off of you. Your breathing smoothed, and your heart felt lighter. You loved Gideon Nav, and she loved you. Dearly.

You finally felt worthy of affection, and you wanted to keep your cavalier far from harm’s way, a task you knew was impossible, but you could try. And you wanted to, which was a huge victory.

You wrapped your thin arms around Gideon’s neck and finally kissed her lips.


	2. the flower of your house - II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> as the necromancers and cavaliers of the other Houses begin to die, a sense of urgency instills upon you, as your time with Gideon is running out.

A few days had passed since you and your cavalier began to share the same bed, Gideon’s arms holding you secure to her chest all night, every night. The deep hatred you harboured for yourself was starting to dry up and fall away as you continued to bare yourself to her. Under her firm hands, you spread your legs for her, arching into her as she kissed your most delicate places. You gave her your trust and she took it inside of her, nesting it safely within her heart.

Her devotion to you kept you going, as the other necromancers and cavaliers started dying, their mangled bodies broken like macabre playthings by a spectre who struck in the darkness. You’d seen them, at the bottom of the shaft to the basement, their flat dead eyes frozen in terror, their mouths locked in silent screams, their limbs shattered from the fall. 

Even in death, the married cavalier and necromancer of the Fifth were together.

The morning you woke to an empty bed was the morning you feared the worst, anxiety and dread ripping you apart from the inside. You hurriedly donned your robe and nothing else, your hands on autopilot, your heartbeat drowning everything out as you ran, until you threw open the door to the abandoned upper laboratory, and you saw her, bloodied but alive. 

Your panic did not ease, though, as you then saw the Fourth cavalier’s corpse, claimed by the inhabitant set loose from the ancient labs.

All you wanted to do right then was hold Gideon, lock the two of you in your suite, keeping her safe from the wraith who hungered for living flesh. You would do anything if it meant she would get to live. 

That was impossible.

The monstrosity did not know boundaries like a person would. The only place you and your beloved cavalier were truly safe was off this godforsaken planet - and the shuttles which brought you here lie drowned in the bottom of that deceptive cerulean ocean. 

The most you could do was bury your face in her shoulder and weep, partly in relief, partly in sheer desperation. Her usually-proud body trembled like a leaf as she held onto you. You felt her heart beating through your thin robe. She was panicked, too. You never wanted to let her go.

If either of you looked back, you would be lost forever.

  
  
  


Weeks passed by. You never let your beloved cavalier out of your sight for any longer than a half a minute, keeping skeletal constructs near the both of you even when the others said it was unnecessary. You knew they would do nothing when the wrath trained its sights on you or her, but it made you feel a tiny bit safer. Something between the wraith and Gideon was better than nothing.

Half a minute without Gideon by your side was half a minute too long. The wrath could kill her right in front of you if you closed your eyes a second too long. Her mortality haunted you, and your subconscious was churning relentlessly to figure out a solution.

Your subconscious gave you nothing.

You treasured her company, seeking her hand in yours whenever the two of you were alone. And when you were truly, absolutely alone, you’d stand on the tips of your toes and kiss her, long and deep, as each kiss shared between you could very well be your last.

Every day that passed seemed to speed up time. Distrust of the others simmered in your gut, as you knew Gideon was the only one you could trust. She had no reason to betray you. 

Even if she did, one glance into those adoring golden eyes would snuff out your suspicions in an instant.

After you and your cavalier and the remaining House members found Ianthe in that room, unhinged and covered in Naberius Terns’ blood, with the unfortunate cavalier absorbed into her, your deepest fears were confirmed. That night, alone with Gideon, you kissed her all over, finding where she liked it most, and you told her. 

It would be one of your last nights with her.

‘Gideon,’ you said, discarding her childlike nickname in this final moment with her. 

This was important. 

She held your gaze, exhaustion paining her beautiful eyes. At the sight of her so weary, you wanted to cry again. She was the flower of your house, the only burning torch of affection in your miserable life, the proud young woman you had only recently grew to love in your entirety.

You wished you never had to see her so defeated again.

‘I love you. I have since… I don’t even remember when. I love you. I love you. I love you.’

Then you kissed her, pressing your lips to hers, and then to her neck. You kissed her nipples, which were hard under your tongue, and down the soft curves of their undersides, and when you reached the ginger curls above her folds you paused.

She gently squeezed your hands. 

‘Is this alright?’ 

‘Yes,’ She sighed. Gideon looked like she was on her way to death, her tan skin pale, dull, her formerly handsome form slightly withered from the constant fear of being murdered in her sleep.

You kissed in between her folds, just like she had on the night after you shed your old, decaying shell. She moaned as you felt around her entrance, her slick fluids coating your slim fingers. You waited for her to say something, anything, before you penetrated her, so you knew it was okay, and you stroked her ginger curls while she cried out so quietly you could barely hear them.

But they were real.

Gideon did not stir, so you touched her inner thigh, once, twice. She opened her eyes, just barely, and nodded, before resting her head back down on the pillow.

Your heart wrenched as you slipped your fingers inside of her. She cried out again, and you squeezed her hand, waiting calmly, patiently, for her to climax, just like she did for you.

She came. It was not dramatic, but with a shudder and a hitched breath, you knew.

Pride blossomed inside of you. This beautiful young woman, Gideon Nav, Gideon of the Ninth, vulnerable and fatigued, had completely trusted you in turn. She gripped your hand like a lifeline as you rose up back to gently kiss her forehead.

‘I love you, Gideon Nav,’ You told her. You never wanted to forget her, and she didn’t want to forget you. The two daughters of the Ninth, united as one, necromancer and cavalier, the last hope for a dying House.

‘I love you too, Nonagesimus,’ Gideon whispered. 

She was so, so tired.

Your heart broke as you softly kissed her hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to my readers who gave me such generous feedback on chapter 1. I wouldn't have made chapter 2 if it wasn't for you.

**Author's Note:**

> a special thank-you to all the lovely people in the people's tomb, and to my Locked Tomb twitter pals. you're all amazing.


End file.
